Republican Senators Demand Obama Take Lead on Entitlement Cuts

[BadgerKid]

Source: Bloomberg

Almost two-dozen Republican senators are threatening to oppose increasing the U.S. debt limit unless President Barack Obama leads efforts to begin cutting government entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security.

The 22 lawmakers, in a letter today to Obama, demanded he work out an agreement similar to the 1983 deal between President Ronald Reagan and then-House Speaker Tip O’Neill, a Massachusetts Democrat, that shored up the Social Security trust fund.

“A similar show of leadership from you and from congressional leaders of both parties is necessary to address the long-term fiscal challenges facing our country,” the letter said. “Without action to begin addressing the deficit, it will be difficult, if not impossible, for us to support a further increase in the debt ceiling.”

...

Its signatories were Dan Coats and Richard Lugar, both of Indiana; Lindsey Graham of South Carolina; Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire; Richard Burr of North Carolina; Saxby Chambliss of Georgia; Tom Coburn of Oklahoma; Bob Corker of Tennessee; John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas; Mike Crapo and James Risch of Idaho; John Ensign of Nevada; Mike Enzi of Wyoming; Mike Johanns of Nebraska; Ron Johnson of Wisconsin; Mike Lee of Utah; Rand Paul of Kentucky; Rob Portman of Ohio; Marco Rubio of Florida; Pat Roberts of Kansas, and Roger Wicker of Mississippi.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-16/republican-senators-demand-obama-take-lead-on-entitlement-cuts.html

---

1. Social Security is not entitlement. It's people's own money.

2. The defense budget sure seems like an entitlement program.

[msongs]

1. obama is an easy mark and republicans know it nt

[neverforget]

2. Obama should tell them to shove it. If they want it, they should take the

lead.

[elleng]

...

:thumbsup:

[truebrit71]

57. That'll be the day, and they already have...

...

[No Elephants]

3. "We know this is political suicide. Give us cover, Obama! Give us cover!"

"We're all huddled in this foxhole. Let's you stick your head up first."

[Le Taz Hot]

50. And the truly sad thing?

He will. Watch.

[lbrtbell]

51. Yep.

Sigh.

[truebrit71]

58. +1. If the last two years are any gauge, sadly you may be correct...

..If he so much as touches SS and Medicaid he is TOAST in 2012...the rethugs are laying a trap...

[KansDem]

4. Why? Isn't it Congress that holds the nation's purse strings?

Hey, Repubs! YOU decide on what needs to be "cut."

[Tansy_Gold]

5. Certainly that's what I've been told many times here on DU

when I've suggested that Obama should take the lead on. . . . . anything.


TG

[No Elephants]

8. A President is supposed to lead the nation and his own Party. Not the opposite Party.

Hell, they have Blubbersmuch Boehner and Turtle Face McConnell. What more leadership could any Republicon member of Congress possibly want?

[elleng]

9. Yes, and NOT the Senate!

[elleng]

6. THEY don't dare take the lead!

[The Magistrate]

7. The Proper Response To This, Sir, Is 'Fuck You, Sweet-Cheeks...'

Preferably delivered at a live press conference....

[highplainsdem]

26. +1

[leftynyc]

53. I would empty my bank account

to hear that or anything similar.

[shanti]

69. heh

:thumbsup:

[ProSense]

10. Is this a joke:

The 22 lawmakers, in a letter today to Obama, demanded he work out an agreement similar to the 1983 deal between President Ronald Reagan and then-House Speaker Tip O’Neill, a Massachusetts Democrat, that shored up the Social Security trust fund.

That deal raised taxes. Still how do you shore up the trust fund by cutting benefits?

“A similar show of leadership from you and from congressional leaders of both parties is necessary to address the long-term fiscal challenges facing our country,” the letter said. “Without action to begin addressing the deficit, it will be difficult, if not impossible, for us to support a further increase in the debt ceiling.”

*cough* hostage *cough*

:rofl:

[earthside]

14. He'll do it.

After all, that's the 'presidential' and 'bipartisan' thing to do.

That's our Barack!

[ProSense]

15. Um

nope.

The Repubs are good for a laugh, huh?

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ProSense]

25. Who the hell are you and

can you read?

[Name removed]

27. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ProSense]

28. "since you got here."

So you were cowardly lurking on the site for more than five years, and decided you'd sign in to make stupid comments?

[dflprincess]

29. He'll claim it was another "hostage" situation. n/t

[truebrit71]

59. Yup. Just like the extension of tax-gifts to the wealthy...

...he'll fold..

[Liberalynn]

71. Agreed

he will fold. He wants to keep his new friends the Pukes happy. He doesn't seem to aware its a one sided friendship though. My only hope that SS won't be touched is the Dems in the Senate.

[yourout]

11. FDR would have flipped them off and then went on the radio calling them out.

[leftynyc]

54. Do you think in the age

of 24-hour cable news that would be effective?

[Tx4obama]

12. Gop'ers can shove their demands where the sun don't shine!

They are disrespectful assholes - always have been and always will be!

[neoralme]

13. I have said repeatedly that if entitlements are cut it will start a

revolution--and not with signs and calls to Bernie Sanders.

[Angry Dragon]

SS has nothing to do with the deficit

Cut defense spending by 25%

[bossy22]

32. which will make a tiny dent in the current deficit

and do almost nothing long term. People on this site seem to forget reality when it comes to this issue. Long term deficits are going to be driven by two things- entitlement programs (SS and Medicare) and increase in debt payments. that is unless congress adopts changes (and they dont necessarily have to cut benefits for these changes to be hugely beneficial)

[Angry Dragon]

34. SS has nothing to do with the deficit

and as far as making them sound you lift the cap and everything will be okay

[Jefferson23]

16. I can't wait to hear the WH respond. n/t

[Liberalynn]

72. How deep of cuts do you want

and how fast can we cut them for you? After all we want to be "bipartisian" is my guess!:sarcasm:

Sorry I have just lost faith in the WH. I am holding out hope that the Senate Dems will remain firm, no matter what the opposition and the WH do.

[onethatcares]

17. all the president has to do is,

get somebody to email about things like NCLB which I received earlier today to make us all feel warm and cuddly.:sarcasm:

No, he should get on national television and explain what is happening to the so called safety net and who is slashing it, how they're slashing it, and what it will lead to.

that is if he's a leader.

fucking marco rubio has a few skeletons in his closet that are starting to pry their way out, I can't wait.

[Autumn]

18. I'm on pins and needles waiting to see how Obama

handles this one. I wish I had faith he would tell them to put their own fire out.

[muntrv]

19. Sure. Let's cut corporate welfare. That's an entitlement program.

[doc03]

20. My prediction on Obama's responce "How High" I hope I

am wrong.

[nbcouch]

21. He's already submitted a budget

so fuck off. Do your own dirty work, mofos.

[Sonicwall]

22. No. You first. And SS and Medicare aren't entitlements

However, defense spending is an entitlement that Republicans love to use.

I recommend a 95% cut and redirected to infrastructure, education, jobs, health care.. And the rich has to pay a surtax of 35% of their total income.

[bemildred]

24. Let's start with the "entitlements" of the Congress, then we can work our way down. nt

[alfredo]

30. Yeah, like the tax cuts for millionaires, get out of jail free card

for millionaires and corporations, and subsidies to oil companies.

[bossy22]

31. social security is entitlement

its not "your own money" in fact when you collect SS you are actually collecting your children's money. When you pay into SS you are paying for the beneficiaries that are collecting now. The hope is that the demographics stay stable enough so that when its your turn there are enough workers to pay for your benefits.

[doc03]

41. So you think SS should be cut then! I paid into SS for over 40

years and by definition entitled means (giving right to). But the Republicans have bastardized that word to mean welfare and now we have DUers spouting the same bullshit. There is supposed to be $2.5 trillion in the SS trust fund that we all paid into and IT IS OUR MONEY. SS is in surplus and will be for over two more decades, it has absolutely nothing to do with the current deficit or debt.

[bossy22]

46. where did my post give any indication that i think SS should cut?

i never said anything about cutting SS benefits- but to continue on course with a "business as usual attitude" is not a valid solution either. Yes the SS trust fund has years in it but what happens after that? SS is eventually going to be in the red unless we do something about it. The earlier we do something the easier it will be. This does not necessarily meaning cutting benefits- it could just mean re-working the tax structure- getting rid of the cap.

Btw SS is already in the red and its here to stay according to the CBO http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/01/26/politics/main7286861.shtml

Also, the SS trust fund is mostly kept in T-notes which means that using that money will require us to sell our own bonds raising the cost of our borrowing.

again- SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE

[doc03]

47. SS is in the red as far as it is drawing from the trust fund

but the trust fund will not be depleted for 26 years. SS is not contributing to any of our federal deficit. The fact is the Federal government issued bonds to SS and to investors all over the world like China to cover the debt created by spending more than we take in. They can't default on the debt to billionaires on Wall Street or countries like China so they are using old people on SS as a scapegoat. Something has to be done to put SS back in balance so raise the cap. And yes SS is a entitlement we have a contract with the government, we pay into SS and when we get old or disabled you are (entitled) to it. If I have $100000 in the bank at 4% interest I can withdraw 4.1% for many years I may be running a deficit but I won't be in debt until the principal is depleted. SS has nothing to do with the federal deficit or debt anyway SS is self funding..

[fittosurvive]

66. "SS is not contributing to any of our federal deficit."

Indeed, the unified budget act enables Congress to conceal the enormity of their fiscal negligence. American workers invest in the SS fund; subsequently, the fund's administrators transfer the worker's money to the general fund, and Congress spends it however they choose.

However, Congress does not account for this liability against the balance sheet of the general fund. This method of accounting is illegal in the private sector and the time is fast approaching when this scheme will come crashing down on America's workers.

[doc03]

70. The missing $2.5 trillion from the SS trust fund can be

fully accounted for I think, $2.5 trillion is the approximate cost of the Bush tax cuts and the two Bush wars. Now instead of raising taxes on the people that created the problem they want to put it on the backs of working people.

[fittosurvive]

77. I suppose we could blame it all on Bush,

but that would require the rejection of reality. But you already know that. You also know that the looting of the SS fund began long before the implementation of Bush’s fuzzy math policies.

Clearly, his predecessors were much smarter and created an ingenious way of raising taxes without explicit legislation. No one caught it then and very few realize it now. But, if they can convince people that Bush was smart enough to pull it off, it will provide them the cover to continue the looting...I can see them smiling as they plot their strategy.

[Generic Other]

33. he should treat them like he treats us

the silent treatment

[defendandprotect]

35. Exxon controlling our oil is "entitlement" -- Corporations using our airways = "entitlement"

-- especially since we don't charge them anything -- !!

And why in the hell is that?

[markpkessinger]

36. The sad thing is he'll probably do it. n/t

[Faryn Balyncd]

37. If the GOP cuts SS they will have to take the blame....They demand that DEMOCRATS slash Soc Sec

[creeksneakers2]

38. GOP cowards

[Duke Newcombe]

39. So much for the constitution

Since in the Constitution it's laid out that the power for appropriations lay with the House of Representatives, the R's have gall (or ignorance) in demanding that the President do ANYTHING regarding the budget save signing or vetoing a budget bill.

Then again, we know that to Republicans, the Constitution is just a prop to be pulled out of your jacket pocket when showing off for "the people".

[StarsInHerHair]

40. most excellent time to confront oil welfare barons & CEOs who have

several retirement packages that probably aren't taxed much due to Republiscums' obsession with reducing capitol gains taxes.

[fittosurvive]

42. "1. Social Security is not entitlement. It's people's own money."

However, the unified budget act authorized Congress to transfer SS funds into the general fund; making them available to to spend on a multitude of enormous pork barrel projects.

From that point on, Congress continued to loot the SS trust fund until it was depleted. The fact is, during the last generation, the United States Congress has misappropriated over $2.6 trillion from American workers. They stole it and they squandered it.

However, the CBO (Dems & Repubs) assures us that Social Security sound, they tell us that SS has $2.6 trillion of assets and there is nothing to fear. They have told this lie many times and they smile as they turn away, for they know that they have deceived America's workers again.

But the era of this lie is coming to an end, for the TRUTH can no longer be concealed by "cooking the books". Even so, many victims of the lie will not understand what it means when they discover that their $2.6 in assets are not the sort of assets they are familiar with. The will learn that these alternative assets predominately consist of receivables from the general fund. Subsequently, when they are informed that these receivables aren't collectible, they will finally realize that they have been swindled by their own government.

[creeksneakers2]

45. Almost nothing in that post is true

[fittosurvive]

48. Sadly, it is all very true, as you will ultimately discover for yourself.

[Historic NY]

43. Just tell them TGFTS.

[sofa king]

44. ...Because They're Not Too Good With The Numbers Thing.

Write your own damned budget! Oh, that's right, you have lobbyists to do that for you.

[999998th word]

49. Social security is still not an entitlement.There is no REAL need to cut.

.They shouldnt even be discussing this
I along with many others paid into it now we depend on it.
I can guarantee this ,if they eviscerate ss the fecal matter will hit the oscillating device.

[fittosurvive]

62. Yes, we all paid into it, but while we were going about the business of living our lives,

the $2.6 trillion SS fund was misappropriated and squandered by our fearless leaders.

You are correct when you say "There is no REAL need to cut." For nothing remains to cut.

[leftynyc]

52. Demand? Pukes can go fuck themselves

They want to raid SS, Medicare and Medicaid - let them wield the ax and get the blame.

[Youth Uprising]

55. It's a trap...

They know that cutting "entitlement" spending is unpopular with the American people,that's why they want the president to "take the lead" so he can take all the heat. Touching Social Security is political suicide and would lead to the destruction of the Democratic Party.

[dkofos]

56. Just tell him what you want and he will make it so.

[PurityOfEssence]

60. What colossal cowardice!

Much as I've criticized him about not making his stands known, this is THEIR idea, and THEY need to come up with the plan. What an outrage. The very idea of bellyaching that it's his problem is infantile and savage.

[undeterred]

61. And if Obama does it, then what difference does it make if there is a Republican in the White House?

Which is worse, a cowardly Democrat or a moron Republican? They're both pushing through the same agenda, aren't they?

[Auntie Bush]

63. I still prefer a cowardly Democrat to a moron Republican! nt

[forty6]

64. Excellent point! n/t

[Geoffrey_Lebowski]

65. I hope his proposal in response is to remove the cap ...

or raise it to like $1M from it's current level around $100K.

They said they want leadership and they want the problem fixed ... BOOM ... that fixes it.

If only Obama had the fucking cajones to do it.

My guess is that IRL he folds like a cheap suit, as usual.

[fittosurvive]

68. I agree, the cap should be raised.

Stock options should also be defined as income to prevent this form of compensation from being exempted. However, these sort of fixes will not restore the solvency of the SS fund.

In order for that to happen, Congress must repeal the unified budget act and prohibit the deceptive accounting procedures which created this problem in the first place.

[Solly Mack]

67. Fuck them.

[lovuian]

73. well if Obama doesn't want to get reelected

Sure go for it Obama
do what your buddy Republicans want :sarcasm:

[sarcasmo]

74. Time to read some more Ronnie Raygun.

[Liberalynn]

75. Called Gillibrand and Schumer's office to ask them to hold tough

against andy cuts to SS and Medicare and to "educate" their colleagues that SS is not an entitlement. Not that it is likely to do any good but at least I can say I tried.

[Imagevision]

76. Repugs got their tax cuts for the top 2% now... fuck-off!